Doom’s soundtrack joined the US National Recording Registry in 2026. Its selection offers a way to consider how music becomes part of our memories of games.
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Sometimes the sound of an old game comes back before its images do. A few musical phrases may recall a moment of urgency or a tight grip on the controls without the screen being in front of us. The inclusion of Doom in the Library of Congress’s 2026 National Recording Registry offers a chance to revisit those memories through sound.
The year’s 25 selections include Taylor Swift’s 1989, Beyoncé’s “Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It),” and the original Broadway cast recording of Chicago. The library describes Doom as the third instance of video game music being selected. Whether a recording was first encountered in a record store, a theater, or at a computer, the registry considers the cultural traces it left.
The selection concerns the soundtrack, rather than the whole game. Keeping software playable and preserving its music as a recording are different tasks. Some experiences depend on the screen and the controls; listening to the music separately can bring out instruments and repeating passages that were less apparent during play. Here it is the music that has been selected for preservation.
The library does not make every selected recording playable on its website. Recognizing a recording’s importance and working to preserve it are separate from obtaining the rights to make it available to listeners. Inclusion provides grounds for considering Doom’s music as a cultural record; it does not mean the soundtrack is now freely downloadable everywhere.
For some listeners, the title “Single Ladies” recalls choreography; Doom’s music may bring movement on a screen to mind. These two selections suggest how hearing a recording again can sometimes recall movements remembered by the body.
During a game, music accompanies the interaction between controls and images. Players encounter it while moving and making decisions, rather than sitting quietly with a song. Hearing it away from the screen may reveal rhythms that were difficult to notice during play, along with memories attached to them. Doom’s place in the registry recognizes a recording that formed part of such experiences.
Sources and editorial notes
newsroom.loc.gov · Official source
Editorial note: Factual statements are based on the sources above; interpretations reflect MUADAILY’s editorial perspective. Image: MUADAILY · AI-generated explanatory illustration.
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